Advertising Rates and Policies

The GF! Approach to Advertising

We want to make purchasing advertisements on GF! easy for both large companies planning vast marketing campaigns and independent creative types and webmasters who want to get the word out about a project with virtually no budget for publicity.
GamesFirst! ads are sold in 30 day ad placement blocks, and each ad block is guaranteed to be shown at least 10 thousand times (see FAQ for details). Ads will often receive many more than 10 thousand views (or impressions), and you will be given a report of how many times your ad was shown in your closing report. You can purchase ads directly from this page, and within 48 hours your ad will be up and running on GamesFirst!, enjoying a prime placement on one of the web's oldest independent gaming websites.

Currently, GamesFirst! only sells ads at the 468x60 size dimension online. We will allow some slight variation in this sizing, but files should be kept to these dimensions. These ads are placed at the top of each page and article, in the main content, right where readers are looking for information about games and gaming. This placement should be ideal for drawing attention to your ad.
Total download for any given advertising code should not exceed 20 KB.

If you are interested in running an ad in our sidebars, of a different size, or if you have any other questions about advertising on GamesFirst!, please don't hesitate to contact us at advertising[AT]gamesfirst[DOT]com.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Private/Small Business and Corporate Ads?

The only difference is the price. We give a discounted price for independent companies and small businesses trying to make an impact in the gaming industry. We classify a 'corporation' as any business with over 100 employees, and we believe our prices are as fair as can be for both levels of ad buyer.

What do I enter in the Ad Placement Code box?

You may enter whatever code you want us to use to display and link your ad. Your ad must fit into the required 468x60 space. You are expected to host your ad media on your own website, which allows you to verify your ad's performance. If you have specific questions about your ad code, email them to advertising[AT]gamesfirst[DOT]com

Why would an advertisement be rejected?

GamesFirst! is an all-ages publication, so while we don't mind advertising for games and media of all interests, we will not tolerate ads which contain content that is not suitable for a broad audience.
GF! will not run advertisements for pornography, racist, sexist, or otherwise hateful products or websites.
If we believe your product or website is 'fishy' or otherwise not reputable, we may reject your advertisement.
GF! will also not run any advertisement that is deemed overly distracting or detrimental to the running, reading, or browsing of the GamesFirst.com website.
We prefer ads with high production values and less animation. Flash advertisements should be highly optimized to not be too much of a burden on our readers' computer resources.
PLEASE NOTE: If GF! refuses to run your ad for any reason, you will receive a complete refund for the ad block which you have purchased.

What if I'm dissatisfied with the ad performance on GamesFirst!?

GF! does not claim to provide more than we know we can deliver: That is 10 thousand impressions of your ad, spread out as evenly as possible over 30 days.
This means that sometimes your ad will be shown more over a few days, or more in the early part of the month.
We make no guarantee about the number of clickthroughs, leads or actions you will see thanks to your ad on GamesFirst! These are mainly due to issues of your ad design, and it is up to you to calculate the number of referrals you've received from your ad placement on GamesFirst!
It is out of our control to guarantee such things, and we believe that our obligation is to get eyeballs looking at your advertisements. GF! will not make any refund based on dissatisfaction with ad performance
unless there is some technical reason on our part that has prevented your ad from being shown.

What information will I get about my ad's performance on GamesFirst!?

At the end of each ad cycle, we will send you an email restating your invoice information as well as the date the ad went live on the site, the date the ad term ended, and the total number of impressions your ad has shown over 30 days.

Can I buy more than one ad block at a time?

Yes you can! Buy three! We currently have no limit on the number of ad blocks you may purchase on GF! If you want your ad to show up more often on GF!, you can purchase multiple ad blocks. We have a set number of ad blocks that may be purchased each month. This number is based on the total number of impressions we expect to deliver for the month. We guarantee 10 thousand impressions per month for each ad, but some months we may deliver many more impressions than that. On an average month, your ad should show between 15 to 20 thousand impressions. We DO NOT oversell our ad space because we want to insure that your ad receives its due notice.
Please note that all ad blocks are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, so there may be a limit to the current number of blocks you can purchase. Check back often, as the blocks go up for sale again as soon as an ad reaches its 30 day expiration date.